Diamonds In The Rough

While out sailing on the ocean
While out sailing on the sea
I bumped into the saviour
And he said pardon me
I said "jesus you look tired"
He said "jesus so do you,
Sit down son
'cause i got some fat to chew"

Chorus:
Everybody needs somebody that they can talk to
Someone to open up their ears
And let that trouble through
Now you don't have to sympathize
Or care what they may do
But everybody needs somebody that they can talk to

Well he spoke to me of morality
Starvation, pain and sin
Matter of fact the whole dang time
I only got a few words in
But i won't squawck
Let 'em talk
Hell it's been a long long time
And any friend that's been turned down
Is bound to be a friend of mine

(repeat chorus)

Now we sat there for an hour or two
Just eatin' that gospel pie
When around the bend come a terrible wind
And lightning lit the sky
He said so long son i gotta run
Appreciate you listening to me
And i believe i heard him sing these words
As he skipped out across the sea

(repeat chorus)

All the snow has turned to water
Christmas days have come and gone
Broken toys and faded colors
Are all that's left to linger on
I hate graveyards and old pawn shops
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my childhood souvenirs

Chorus:
Memories they can't be boughten
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Well it took me years
To get those souvenirs
And i don't know how they slipped away from me

Broken hearts and dirty windows
Make life difficult to see
That's why last night and this mornin'
Always look the same to me

I hate reading old love letters
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my sweetheart's souvenirs

(repeat chorus)

Clocks and spoons and empty rooms
It's raining out tonight
What a way to end a day
By turnin' out the light
Shoot the moon right between the eyes
I'm sending most of me to sunny country side

Runnin' through sky of blue rollin' in the sun
Every day has a way of overflowing one
Shoot the moon right between the eyes
I'm keeping most of me in sunny country side

Don't know how i did that now wonder where it's gone
Must have spent the way i went waitin' for the dawn
Shoot the moon right between the eyes
I'm screaming
Take me back to sunny country side

The station was empty
The trains were all gone
I reached in my pocket
And i wanted for dawn

Chorus:
The clock played drums
And i hummed the sax
And the wind whistled down
The railroad tracks
Hey three for a quarter
One for a dime
I'll bet it's tomorrow
By rocky mountain time

I walked in the restaurant
For something to do
The waitress yelled at me
And so did the food
And the water taste funny
When you're far from your home
But it's only the thirsty
That hunger to roam

(repeat chorus)

We'll build us a castle on main street
And pretend that we're down on the farm
Hell, we'll hold out as long as we have to
Then we'll twist off each other's arm

Christ i'm so mixed up and lonely
I can't even make friends with my brain
I'm too young to be where i'm going
But i'm too old to go back again

(repeat first verse and chorus)

I knew a girl who was almost a lady
She had a way with all the men in her life
Every inch of her blossomed in beauty
And she was born on the fourth of july
Well she lived in an aluminum house trailer
And she worked in a juke box saloon
And she spent all the money i give her
Just to see the old man in the moon

Chorus:
I used to sleep at the foot of old glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise
When i opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise

Well we'd go out on saturday evenings
To the drive-in on route 41
And it was there that i first suspected
That she was doin' what she'd already done
She said "johnny won't you get me some popcorn"
And she knew i had to walk pretty far
And as soon as i passed through the moonlight
She hopped into a foreign sports car

(repeat chorus)

Well you know i could have beat up that fellow
But it was her that had hopped into his car
Many times i'd fought to protect her
But this time she was goin' too far
Now some folks they call me a coward
'cause i left her at the drive-in that night
But i'd druther have names thrown at me
Than to fight for a thing that ain't right

(repeat chorus)

Now she writes all the fellows love letters
Saying "greetings, come and see me real soon"
And they go and line up in the barroom
And spend the night in that sick woman's room
But sometimes i get awful lonesome
And i wish she was my girl instead
But she won't let me live with her
And she makes me live in my head

(repeat chorus)

Oh i get drunk most every night
Seems like all we do is fight
The more i drink
The less i feel blue
Sometimes i feel like an awful fool
Spendin' my life on an old bar stool
And yes i guess they oughta name a drink after you

If this date were to be our last
I'd never sit down this glass
It'd take all the booze in the world
To forget you
You've left my heart a vacant lot
I'll fill it with another shot
And yes i guess they oughta name a drink after you

Looks like i had my fill
Guess i better pay my bill
When i started out i only meant to have a few
Someone just said that you left town
I better get a double round
And yes i guess they oughta name a drink after you

Robert was a sailor
For the best years of his life
His captain was his mother
And the ocean was his wife
Only fresh out of the cradle
Life's one and only spring
He was sworn to do his duty
And got blood on his highschool ring

Chorus:
And it's hello california
Hello dad and mom
Ship ahoy
Your baby boy
Is home from vietnam
Don't you ask me any questions
'bout the medals on my chest
Take the star out of the window
And let my conscience take a rest

Now he sailed across the ocean
To the old far eastern war
And it was foreign to his body
It was foreign to his shore
So he traded in the present
For the better times he'd seen
And made an oriental waitress
His own home comin' queen

(repeat chorus)